We Can Do Better

Today is Holocaust Remembrance Day. According to the statistics from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the travesties of the Holocaust took the lives of …

• 6 million Jews
• 7 million Soviet civilians
• Up to 250,000 people with disabilities

Additional deaths included numbers among Serb civilians, Gypsies, German political opponents, homosexuals, and Polish civilians. Senseless deaths!

Why did all those millions die? Because of hatred, prejudice, greed, fear, and lack of love.

We grieve God anytime we choose any of these lacking-in-love postures.

God forbid that any Holocaust-type event would occur. However, daily acts of hatred, prejudice, greed, fear, and lack of love plague the world. Verbal abuse abounds. Physical trauma persists. Racial and political divisions refuse to die.

Yet, we can do better. We can love our neighbor. We can pray for our “enemies” and befriend them. We can talk respectfully to, with, and about those with whom we disagree.

Romans 14:19 (MSG)
So let’s agree to use all our energy in getting along with each other. Help others with encouraging words; don’t drag them down by finding fault.

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)
Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

#ordinarylives